The Gloaming
by Bremm
Summary: Just some Halloween inspired fun. The team travels to a seemingly uninhabited planet and gets more than they bargained for. Go figure.
1. The Hills Have Eyes: and Legs!

Disclaimer: If it's on the show, it doesn't belong to me. If it's not on the show, it's mine.

Summary: Just some Halloween inspired fun. The team travels to a seemingly uninhabited planet and gets more than they bargained for. Go figure.

Spoilers: A few mentions here and there, nothing too serious.

Characters: Sheppard and McKay focus, Ronon and Teyla

Author's Note: Got hit with an idea and decided to run with it. Not meant to be anything over-the-top fantastic, just a bit of fun. Hope you enjoy, as always.

* * *

_'Tis now the very witching time of night,  
When churchyards yawn  
And hell itself breathes out  
Contagion to this world.  
-_William Shakespeare

**The Gloaming**

**by Bremm**

**Chapter 1**

"**I** don't care _what_ it is, Rodney, just shoot the damn thing!" Sheppard bellowed into his radio, sawing with renewed vigor at the rope that currently had him by the ankle, suspending him several feet off the ground. Some distance away, the bark of a P90 echoed loudly through the forest and a smattering of birds took flight, startled.

"_Easy for you to say!" _Rodney screamed back, his breathless voice bordering on hysteric, and Sheppard grit his teeth and continued sawing. _"How on earth am I supposed to know where to shoot it?"_

"_Shoot its legs_," Ronon offered helpfully and Sheppard could hear the sound of Ronon's energy gun overlaying the spray of automatic fire.

"_It doesn't_have _legs, you Neanderthal! It's a mound of dirt!"_

"_Has to be moving somehow," _Ronon replied pragmatically and Rodney's strangled noise was clearly audible over the radio.

"_I believe I am closing in on your position, Colonel._" Teyla pipped up and Sheppard sagged a little in relief. The rope was annoyingly thick and had what looked like a strand of braided steel as it's core; it was taking him a long time to saw through it. He had to heft himself up and grab the end of the rope in one hand to hold himself upright, sawing with the other. The strain was leaving a mild burn in his muscles and Sheppard hissed through his teeth as he abandoned sawing long enough to scramble a hand towards one of his vest pockets. Pulling out a life-signs detector, his touch turning it on, he looked at the screen.

"Turn a few degrees to your left, Teyla. You're close." He paused as the dot that was Teyla obediently shifted direction, "You've got it. Straight ahead."

"_Oh god, it's not slowing down..._" Rodney squeaked over their channel, and the P90 fire died off. Straining to listen, Sheppard caught a few more sounds of Ronon's energy gun, before that stopped as well.

"Guys?" he asked into his ear piece.

"_Can't talk now,"_ Ronon barked in reply.

Teyla burst through the foliage to his right, and he quickly ordered, "Cut me down!", allowing his body to fall down and dangle. Wasting no time, Teyla reached down and pulled a long, slightly curved knife from her boot. She slashed at the rope; it frayed to the center and rebounded off the braided steel. With a frown, she took a step back, eyes tracking the rope to where it arced over a tree branch, then disappeared into the high foliage.

"I cannot cut it with my knife," she said worryingly. "The fastest way to get you free would be if I trace it back and untie it at its source. I will return after I have done so."

Sheppard gave her a curt nod, showing that he understood. "Hurry," he told her needlessly. She nodded back and disappeared off in the direction the rope extended, moving at a run.

The blood was rushing to his head, yet his stomach muscles burned far too bad for him to want to attempt to pull himself back up again. He remembered how much he poked fun at Rodney for a similar predicament and vowed to appologise for it. His ankle felt as if it slowly being torn away from the rest of his body – if it hadn't been sprained in his spectacular execution of the cunningly laid trap, the full weight of his body and all his gear was definitely tearing something. His face felt unbearable flushed and began to pound with a headache. He willed Teyla to hurry.

A few more blasts from Ronon's gun cut through the quiet like an afterthought before dying off completely and Sheppard was practically squirming with impatience. He could no longer hear Teyla moving through the forest, so the rope must extend farther than he thought. The minutes wore on, stretching impossibly long, so long that he was about to ask what was taking her so damn long, when finally his radio keyed.

"_Colonel."_ Teyla's voice was overcast by a smattering of static.

"Have you found the end?"

There was a pause that Sheppard didn't like, before Teyla replied, "_There is a device here. I am unable to release the rope."_

Great. Just great. As if to make matters worse, the distant sound of P90 fire started up again, Ronon's gun discharging enthusiastically in tandem. Taking a deep, calming breath, he said into his radio, "Forget about the rope, Teyla, and go help Rodney and Ronon."

A hesitant pause from Teyla. _"I am uncomfortable with leaving you alone."_

Sheppard had lost his P90 when he'd inadvertently sprung the trap. It had disappeared into the surrounding bushes and was out of sight; he wasn't about to call Teyla back to look for it. His handgun was still strapped in his thigh holster though, so he keyed his radio to say, "I've still got my sidearm, I'll be fine."

That seemed to be enough for her. "_On my way." _Teyla responded curtly. The static was gone and her voice came through clear. Then the radio channel fell silent.

Feeling the veins in his head throbbing in time with his heartbeat, Sheppard grimaced. His face felt like it was on fire. Taking a few deep, steeling breaths, Sheppard hauled himself upward just enough to snag a hand on the rope. Pulling himself up to a semi-comfortable contortion, blood rushing blessedly away from his head, he reached with a free hand into his vest pocket and pulled out the LSD again. He couldn't stand not doing anything and watching his team's back was the best he could do.

He studied the screen. Two rapidly moving dots were located about half a mile northeast of his current position – Ronon and Rodney. The sound of gunfire was coming from their direction. However, nothing was on the screen chasing them. Teyla's dot was moving away from Sheppard and obviously heading towards the sound of gunfire.

In fact, nothing was on the screen at all except the four of them. He keyed his radio, "Guys, I'm getting nothing on the life-signs detector."

"_That's because it's a goddamn dirt pile! Try switching the settings."_ Rodney's voice was sharp and annoyed and the report of the P90 in the background was ear-jarring.

Right, right, Sheppard fiddled with the screen as carefully as he could with one hand, not wanting to drop it. He wasn't as good as Rodney at using the life-signs detector, but he'd had the physicist show him how to change what signatures the device read. He switched from large bio signatures to small bio signatures– the screen was liberally covered with dots. W_ell, at least this planet has an active ecosystem_, he thought sardonically. Scrutinizing the mess, he picked out Rodney and Ronon. It was kind of hard not to, they were huge on the screen comparatively. Nothing seemed to be moving in time with them, other than Teyla, so he switched the setting away from bio signatures and into energy.

Okay, that was something. Little insignificant fields were scattered on the screen, but one bright, fast moving dot attracted his immediate attention. Trying to get the screen to show bio signatures and energy at the same, he gave up after a few frustrated, abortive attempts.

"McKay, how do I read different signatures at the same time?" he asked into his radio.

The P90 fire was sporadic now. At least Rodney was keeping his head enough to start conserving ammo. Sheppard had to wonder worryingly, though, what could possibly take _that much _P90 fire and still keep coming.

"_You're kidding, right?"_ the plea was high pitched and squeaked a little at the end. Sheppard grimaced. "_How completely and utterly useless are you?!"_

He was about to reply tartly that he was doing the best he could in his current situation when Rodney continued in acid tones, "_No, nevermind – the answer is obvious. Just think really really really hard at it, Colonel, and maybe that will work, because I don't have the time nor the inclination to explain it to you at the moment. I'm a little busy trying not to _die_."_

Hooookay. McKay had blown past fear and into anger, which was good. He tended to survive better when working on anger. On a whim, positive it wasn't going to work, Sheppard tightened his grip on the LSD and thought really hard about seeing both energy and large bio signatures.

Definitely didn't work. Torn between wanting to track the energy signature that was chasing Ronon and McKay and watching his teammate's life-signs, he eventually decided on watching his teammates. Teyla's dot was moving at the same pace as McKay and Ronon's as they all moved steadily east and Sheppard realized she couldn't reach them, not when they were all running the same speed.

"Teyla, if you switch your direction slightly to the right and move a little faster, you'll come up behind whatever's chasing Ronon and McKay, if the two of them slow down a bit."

"_You want us to _slow down?_ Are you _mad?" Rodney's voice was incredulous.

"_Slowing down is not a good idea, Sheppard." _Ronon added. _"Whatever this thing is, it's deadly. It kills the ground as it passes over it."_

Frowning, trying to picture that in his mind, he asked, "Kills?"

"_As in it's leaving a trail of incredibly dead and incinerated plant-life in its wake, what the hell did you think he meant? It's gotta have something beneath the mound of dirt, acid or something, like a slug trail-"_ Rodney said irately.

Suddenly realizing that he never told McKay which setting he found the creature on the LSD, Sheppard said, "Its signature is energy, McKay, not organic."

Sheppard could perfectly picture the expression on Rodney's face, because the sporadic P90 fire stopped and there was just the sound of Ronon's gun firing. He could see Rodney's face in his mind's eye, gaze narrowed and distant as the cogs turned in his head, the massive intellect taking that piece of information, dissecting it...

"_It's a machine, obviously... Buried in the forest bed, probably motion detecting and we activated it by stepping on it, which is pathetically primitive, but effective. That would leave it covered in a protective mound of dirt that effectively slows down our bullets enough to not damage it... Ronon's gun is practically useless, it's just throwing up clouds of dust..."_

That's what Sheppard liked to see: answers. "Can you shoot its legs, like Ronon said?"

"_Nono, I can't see its means of propulsion from here... there's no gap between the thing and the ground, at least, not wide enough for us to see if it has legs or not... certainly not enough to tell how it's moving itself..."_

"_It's fast." _Ronon remarked.

"_Yes, thank you for that, Ronon. I hadn't realized." _While Ronon sounded only slightly exerted, Rodney was breathing heavily, his words coming more as broken pants than actual sentences. He knew McKay wouldn't be able to keep up the pace much longer.

"_I see the trail that Rodney described._" Teyla remarked suddenly_. "I believe I am directly behind the creature – I can see Rodney and Ronon ahead of me._

"_What, I don't see- oh, yeah, careful Teyla, it's right in front of you... What does it look like from behind?" _

A pause and Sheppard continued to scrutinize the LSD. Ronon and Rodney had obediently slowed down and Teyla had closed the distance. She was right behind the pair.

"_It is difficult to tell in the dim lighting, I can barely make it out. It appears as if the forest bed itself is moving..." _A brief sound of surprise, "_I am not sure, but the creature appears to be glowing."_

"_Glowing?"_

"_Yes, a slight glow remains briefly on the forest bed after the creature passes over it. It fades quickly."_

Rodney made a noncommittal humming noise as if he found the information interesting, but didn't offer anything and the radio channel was briefly silent.

"It eats up the ground?" Sheppard asked, struck with an idea.

"_Yes, we've established that." _Rodney replied snidely.

"Do you have any grenades on you, Ronon?"

A contemplative pause, then Ronon replied in barely concealed delight,_ "Two."_

"Do you think you can time it so the thing passes over where you've dropped it just as it explodes?"

In a slightly affronted sounding voice, Ronon replied, _"Easily."_

"_You think that hadn't occurred to me, Sheppard?_" Rodney cut in, "_I'm not an idiot. I have _no_idea what powers that thing. We're not exactly that far ahead of it that I'd even remotely consider blowing it up a good idea - I have no idea what reaction that could set off, let alone-"_

"The dirt should dampen the blast enough." Sheppard remarked. "Just put as much distance as you can between you and it. Teyla, back off for now."

The LSD showed Teyla slowing and then coming to halt. Rodney still continued his breathless objections over the radio, but the dots that denoted him and Ronon did increase their speed. After a moment, Ronon rumbled over the radio, _"First grenade."_

A few seconds later the sound of an explosion rippled through the forest.

* * *

-to be continued 


	2. The Hill Has Friends

Author's Note: In the autumn when I was a kid my parents let me rake all the leaves into piles in the front yard (for jumping into later). One time as I was doing this, a friend came by just as I was finishing up – it was dusk and she was riding her bike home. Upon seeing me she paused, surveying the numerous mounds that littered the yard, remarking, "Ooo, that looks neat in the dark," and then what she said next would haunt me for many years to come; "Wouldn't it be creepy if the piles started moving and tried to eat you?"

* * *

**The Gloaming**

**by Bremm**

**Chapter 2**

"**I**s it dead?" Rodney asked in a small, quiet voice, as if he were afraid that asking the question might suddenly bring it back to life.

Ronon, in what Rodney thought was an impressive feat of courage, strode forward and nudged the remnants of the dirt pile with a boot. Rodney cringed, but the dirt pile remained just that – a dirt pile.

"Oh thank god..." he breathed, and leaned over and rested two hands on his knees, just concentrating on catching his breath and getting rid of the excruciating stitch in his side.

Teyla crashed through the brush next to them the same moment Sheppard's voice came over the radio, worried, "_Are you guys alright? Did it work?"_

"It's dead." Ronon remarked.

Sheppard's sigh of relief was audible over the radio connection.

"Ronon!" Teyla hissed, and something in her voice made Rodney's head jerk up and Ronon raise his gun.

The sun was almost set – it was just a splash of red on the horizon – and in the dim light, Ronon squinted into the trees. Rodney fumbled with the P90 he'd let hang from his chest, saying with dread, "Oh god, what is it now?"

Teyla had her own P90 trained on the forest line of the small clearing they'd made with the explosion. She took slow, careful steps until she and Ronon were standing shoulder to shoulder. "I am not sure." she said softly.

"_Guys?"_ Sheppard asked, the trepidation in his voice palpable, and Teyla slowly keyed her radio and said, "Not now, Colonel."

The noise reached them first. A faint rustle that Rodney mistook at first for the wind through the trees; only to realize, like a punch to the gut, that there _was_no wind.

"Move!" Ronon suddenly barked and in tandem the three of them turned and bolted before even seeing why.

Unable to help himself, Rodney threw a quick glance over his shoulder- the entire forest bed was alive, rising up and seeming to surge from nothingness, plowing forward with chilling speed. Trees were knocked down and the foliage was eaten up by a massive, undecipherable mass-

Teyla turned and fired an experimental burst of P90 rounds at the approaching tide-

"It's useless," Rodney moaned, his legs churning and eating up the distance. "We've just woken up the dirt pile's friends-"

"_Guys, the LSD is going _nuts_! I've reading massive, massive power-"_

No one bothered to reply, focused on simply running. The sun was falling lower and lower on the horizon, giving off a practically useless amount of light. Rodney tripped on something and stumbled, almost falling if not for Ronon seizing the back of his vest and keeping him upright. Rodney and Teyla powered on the flashlights mounted to their P90s almost simultaneously, not even having to voice it, training the twin beams of light on the ground a few feet ahead of them.

"We can't run forever." Ronon remarked through gritted teeth. He holstered his gun and darted closer to McKay, barking, "Your rifle, give it to me!"

Rodney's gut instinct screamed_no!_ but almost thoughtlessly his hands were shoving the P90 into Ronon's outstretched arms-

Behind him, Teyla stumbled in the suddenly diminished light, Rodney was grabbing at her, hauling her along and keeping her upright, one hand reaching down and grabbing her arm that held the P90, lifting it up along with her and keeping it trained forward so they could at least begin to see where they were going-

Ronon turned and let loose with a full automatic spray, long and hard, round after round after round until Rodney's ears were ringing. Ronon kept his finger on the trigger until the chamber clicked empty, empty-

"McKay, how do we stop them?!" Ronon roared, and Rodney's mind was completely white, his body moving on autopilot, his breath thundering in his ears-

_How do we stop them?_ His mind was like molasses, worse yet because there was a nagging feeling that he was forgetting, some trivial little thing he saw that was the key to it-

"McKay!" Ronon yelled again, his hands fumbling and tugging at Rodney's vest, pulling out the spare P90 clips. Teyla groped at her own vest, handing her spare clips to Ronon as they ran and staggered through the forest, moving as one around tress, crashing through low-growing foliage-

The light from Teyla's P90 was weaving crazily on the ground in front of them. Rodney wracked his brains, the P90 fire cutting across the sound of cracking timber and low rumbling of vast amounts of earth rolling forward...

They're machines, energy signatures, self controlled or remotely? He can't tell, but they all move with one purpose – the death of the first machine must have triggered an alarm, bringing all of them to life, meaning all the machines were linked together, feeding off a unified awareness. Stood to reason that they could all be stopped simultaneously. But what was their purpose? What ultimate command directive were they following?

"Sheppard-" Rodney gasped into the radio, "The energy signatures, what does it say about them?"

"_Rodney, I have no idea how to read this thing! I can't understand any of these symbols!"_

_Oh, for the love of- _"The right-hand column, there should be several lines of writing. What's on the first line?" he demanded.

"McKay, we don't have time for this!" Ronon growled, moving mechanically and yanking another empty P90 clip and slamming home a fresh one.

"_Just a bunch of Ancient symbols... the third one I recognize, it's the last chevron for the gate address to Atlantis from Earth... the rest I have no idea, one's like a backwards F, there's a upside-down 4..."_

Rodney's brain ran into overdrive as soon as Sheppard mentioned the Pegasus galaxy gate symbol, "The energy signature is Ancient!"

"Why is it attacking us, then?" Teyla asked, sweat running down her face. One hand was balled up into a fist, grasping Rodney's sleeve, to keep the both of them balanced and to prevent either of them falling. "Should it not recognize the Ancient gene in Rodney?"

"Maybe it does," Rodney rasped, the stitch in his side feeling like a spike driving into his flesh, "Maybe it's not even after me, just the two of you because you don't have it. I've been with Ronon this whole time, we never split up after we triggered the first one-"

Ronon's huge hand was on Rodney's shoulder, gripping tight, "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm not sure!" Rodney replied, eyes wild. "I could be completely wrong!"

"Go help Sheppard!" Ronon said fiercely and shoved Rodney away. Rodney barely had time to let out an angry shout. Teyla's fist released his sleeve in surprise as Rodney staggered to the side, balance gone and arms flailing as his feet caught in the underbrush. He tumbled into a painful heap on the forest floor, feeling the long pine-like needles digging into his skin. He closed his eyes, waiting for impending death. The low rumble of vast amounts of moving earth was loud, the ground beneath him shaking with the force of it-

The machines passed by him harmlessly. Rodney cringed and opened his eyes, watching in disbelief as the earth rushed by with terrifying speed, moving around him as if he were surrounded by a protective bubble. Once the initial shock passed, Rodney's hand flew up and keyed his radio, sputtering, "Ronon, you reckless, moronic-"completely beside himself, Rodney snarled, "I could have died!"

"_You didn't,"_was the calm reply.

Pulling himself to his feet, feeling winded and shaky, Rodney retorted in a wavy voice, "Don't ever, _ever_, do that again." Sucking in a deep breath, he demanded, "What are the two of you planning to do now?"

"_We'll make it back to the Jumper."_

"The Jumper is well over two miles out from where we are – you can't possibly think you can maintain that pace all the way there. Plus, what's to stop the machines from-"

"_Attacking the Jumper? The same thing that prevented them from attacking _you_."_Ronon stated. "_Do you have a better idea?"_

Rodney swallowed a scathing reply – he didn't. "I'll, uh..." he wracked his brains, trying to come up with anything, but there just wasn't enough information. "I'll figure out how to turn them off. Once I rescue Sheppard, I'll find a way. Just... just make it to the Jumper, okay?"

"_We'll be fine, Rodney."_ Teyla's voice said reassuringly.

"Like I haven't heard that one before," Rodney muttered darkly to himself. Belatedly realizing that Ronon still had his P90, Rodney felt oddly naked without it. One hand dug into his vest pockets, noticing with a start that he was standing in a rapidly darkening forest full of killer robots with nothing more than a .9 millimeter hand gun.

He pulled out a small flashlight, wondering depressingly if he'd remembered to change the batteries recently. Apparently not, for the beam came out low and weak, but it was better than nothing.

"Sheppard," he called over the radio, feeling very alone and lost."Do you have me on the life-signs detector?"

"_Yeah. I'm southwest of you... start walking towards me and I'll correct you as you go along."_

Rodney started off slowly in a vaguely southern direction until Sheppard had him pointed the right way, then set off at a brisk walk, heart still hammering in his chest and the pistol grip of his sidearm warming in his hand.

* * *

-to be continued 


	3. Some Vague Semblance of a Plan

**The Gloaming**

**by Bremm**

**Chapter 3**

"**H**ow in the world did you manage that?" was the first thing Rodney said upon entering within earshot of Sheppard. Sheppard threw him a glare, the effect of which was lost as he dangled upside-down, slowly revolving. "Not too funny now, is it?" Rodney asked, with a bit too much smugness in his voice for Sheppard's liking.

"Just figure out how to get me down." He made sure his voice was level and clearly indicated that he wasn't in the mood. Rodney of course paid him no mind, striding forward and staring up at Sheppard's aborted attempts to saw through the rope. "Mmm, can't cut it, obviously. You know, rope traps are surprisingly primitive for the level of technology on this planet."

"Really." Sheppard ground out between gritted teeth.

Rodney made a humming noise in reply. "Probably made the primitive traps for the stupid people and left the impressive stuff for people who were a _real_ danger."

"McKay, I am _this _close to hitting you the moment you get me down from here."

Flashing Sheppard an impish smile, Rodney merely raised an eyebrow as if to say he wasn't in the least bit daunted. "Teyla said that there's a device holding the rope in place." Sheppard added forcefully, and Rodney waved a hand at him.

"Yes, yes, I'll go take a look."

Rodney paused just before leaving Sheppard's small clearing. Sheppard watching him scan the tree line, licking his lips nervously and shifting his weight from one foot to the other. After taking a deep breath, Rodney seemed to gather himself, adjusting his grip on his sidearm and flashing his light back and forth in the woods.

Watching him leave the clearing, his eyes lost track of Rodney's form in the darkness and was forced to follow the weak beam of light before that slowly faded off into the darkness as well.

It was dark. Really, really dark and Sheppard reached into his vest and removed his own flashlight, twisting it on. The beam of light that emerged was strong and he flashed it across the ground, trying to catch sight of where he might have dropped his P90. A metallic flash caught his attention and he danced the beam back and forth across where he saw it, but was unable to see what it might be, the underbrush being too thick. Making a mental note of its location, he clicked the flashlight off. No sense in drawing any unwanted attention to himself.

The minutes dragged by. He heard nothing from Teyla and Ronon, but resisted the urge to call them over the radio. They needed to save all their breath to make it to the Jumper. Teyla had the automatic keyer that opened and closed the rear hatch, so they should be fine. They would contact him when they made it and he just had to wait.

"_Colonel, I'm about to release the rope. Umm... try not to break your neck when you fall."_

"Thanks, Rodney." He muttered to himself. He bent himself a little bit in half so his head wouldn't be the first thing to hit the ground, tensing, and a moment later he felt the rope go slack and the ground rushed up to meet him. He twisted, managing to fall on his left shoulder more than anything. Gritting his teeth against the hard impact, he grimaced at the sudden rush of pins and needles.

His right ankle throbbed. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, feeling slightly light-headed as his blood flow righted itself, he reached down and removed the loop of rope from around his ankle. He threw the rope aside with a bit of self-indulging viciousness.

"_Did it work?" _Rodney asked.

"Yeah, it did. Come back to the clearing."

Sheppard scrutinized his ankle. Giving it a test flex, his winced. It felt swollen and stiff and as he tried to roll it, lancing pain almost made him stop, but he gritted his teeth and continued to assess how badly it was hurt. Didn't seem to be broken; he could move it with some measure of success. With a sigh he reached down and tugged at his shoelaces and was in the long and involved process of trying to pull off his boot without causing himself too much discomfort when Rodney came back into the clearing.

He crouched next to Sheppard's foot, shining the flashlight at it. "Is it broken?"

Sheppard shook his head, "No, just badly sprained, I think."

Rodney grimaced and Sheppard knew he was thinking about how he was going to have to half-drag Sheppard through a forest of crazed robots in the dark. "Here, let me..." Rodney muttered and handed Sheppard the flashlight while he reached down and untied Sheppard's boot with a few deft movements. "Are you sure you want to take it off? It's probably gonna hurt like a sonuvabitch."

"Better to take it off now before it gets too swollen or we'd have to cut the boot off later. I just got this pair worn in." Sheppard reached into several vest pockets until his fingers found a package of field bandages. "Wrap it up tight and we'll put the boot back on and get the hell out of here."

Rodney obediently took the dressings from Sheppard; he propped the Colonel's foot in his lap and began winding the bandage around, tightly, and Sheppard locked his jaw and said nothing. It was finished quickly and without needing prompting, Rodney maneuvered Sheppard's foot back into his boot with surprising gentleness. He didn't say a word during the whole ordeal, causing Sheppard to scrutinize him. He realized the physicist was shaking slightly.

"You okay?" he asked softly and Rodney's fingers tied the laces of Sheppard's boot.

"Fine." Rodney replied curtly, finishing and rising briskly, offering a hand to Sheppard. With a sigh Sheppard took the proffered hand and together they hauled his bulk to his feet.

He experimentally put weight on his foot and wobbled – yeah, definitely sprained – but knew he could manage in a crisis. For now, he wordlessly draped an arm around Rodney' shoulder and Rodney almost automatically wrapped an arm around Sheppard's waist.

"I think my P90 fell over there somewhere," Sheppard pointed with a finger, and they hobbled over and started scanning the underbrush with the flashlight. Sure enough, the matte black butt of the rifle poked out from beneath a scraggly bush. Sheppard leaned away from Rodney enough for the scientist to bend over and pick it up. Pulling a few stray twigs from the rifle, Rodney offered it to Sheppard.

Sheppard shook his head. "You carry it."

"I can't carry the LSD, the P90, _and _you."

"Give me the LSD then." Sheppard said and then withered under the vicious glare Rodney sent his way.

"I would if you knew how to _operate it_, which you clearly can't be counted on doing." With no further comment, Rodney shoved the P90 into Sheppard chest and let go, causing the Colonel to fumble and barely catch the weapon. He tucked it under his arm, admitting to himself that he felt a lot more comfortable now that he was armed.

Rodney pulled his own LSD from his pocket and it lit up happily under his touch. Letting out a low, impressed whistle, Rodney began to fiddle with it – Sheppard watched him with annoyance. Rodney seemed to have no trouble whatsoever maneuvering the screens one handed; his thumbed deftly touched the screens easily in all the right places and Sheppard watched but didn't comprehend the figures that began to write themselves across the small screen.

"It's massive." Rodney said softly. "I'm talking ZedPM massive."

_That_ got Sheppard's eyebrows up to his hairline, and Rodney quickly continued, "Nono, not an actual ZedPM. Whatever those machines are, their combined power output is through the roof. Judging from this, the forest bed of this entire continent must be covered with them – this is incredible..." Rodney's eyes were soaking up the LSD screen like a sponge, his lips moving soundlessly as he ran whatever thought-process through his head.

"Ronon and Teyla?" Sheppard prompted and Rodney obediently switched to bio-signatures and widened the field until it caught two large signs moving at a quick pace. Sheppard made a satisfied noise.

Rodney switched back to the energy scanner and continued to fiddle with it. "We should get going, McKay," Sheppard said.

"Just give me a minute, Colonel..." Rodney's voice was distracted. He was staring intently at the LSD and pursed his lips, brow furrowed.

"Was that an 'I'm sensing impending doom' just a minute or an 'oh, this is vaguely interesting but not life threatening' just a minute?"

Rodney favored Sheppard with a withering glare. "If I said the former, would you wait?"

"Not if I could tell you were lying."

With an annoyed grunt, Rodney replied, "Fine. It can wait..." and switched back to bio signatures and decreased the field until it only showed the immediate vicinity. "Do you think that they can find the Jumper?" Rodney asked suddenly, and Sheppard blinked at the question. "We didn't exactly put a sign up where we parked, and it's cloaked and it's abysmally dark out here."

That was true. Sheppard bit his lip, then replied in what he hoped was an optimistic voice, "Ronon and Teyla have an uncanny sense of direction and I did take out those two trees right where we landed. They'll find it – I know they will."

"Spectacularly took out those trees..." Rodney muttered, but looked somewhat mollified. "So which direction is the Jumper in?"

Sheppard had the good grace not to look sheepish when he replied, "I have no clue. I just figured we'd follow behind Ronon and Teyla."

Rodney's heavenward roll of his eyes said exactly what he thought about that revelation, and then said acidly, "I also take it you have no plan concerning how we're going to get inside the Jumper."

They were slowly hobbling in the direction Ronon and Teyla had gone, their progress slow as they weaved around trees and over underbrush and fallen branches. "What do you mean?" Sheppard asked, genuinely perplexed, and Rodney gave him an exasperated look.

"Unless those machines turn themselves off the moment Ronon and Teyla get inside the Jumper, there's no way _we _can open the door and get inside without those machines getting inside with us."

Oh. Sheppard hadn't thought of that.

"What are the chances that they'll turn off?"

Rodney seemed to give that due consideration. "Normally I'd say once they got inside and reactivated the cloak, that should block their life-signs from the machine's detection system. But the machines are Ancient design as well – I honestly couldn't say if they'd be able to get information through the Jumper's cloak. It's likely, though. Most Ancient technology interfaces automatically."

Of course it would, Sheppard sighed internally. "Cross that bridge when we come to it?" he said and he could feel Rodney's shoulder shrug in response.

"I'll think of something."

"You always do."

Rodney muttered something snide under his breath.

* * *

-to be continued 


	4. Killer Robots are Persistant

**The Gloaming**

**by Bremm**

**Chapter 4**

"**A**re you sure we are headed the right way?" Teyla gasped, her breath feeling like acid in her throat. The question emerged rough, like sandpaper, and she swallowed and tried not to think about how dry her mouth was.

"Of course I'm sure." Even breathless, Ronon managed to sound annoyed. He spoke with conviction, however, and utterly lost herself Teyla could only believe him. "We're close."

Teyla wanted to sag in relief at that statement. However, her legs kept pumping, eating up the distance as she and Ronon raced toward the Jumper, shoulder to shoulder. They had long since used all the ammunition available for the P90s and now twin beams of light from the mounted flashlights lit up the ground in front of them, dipping and weaving crazily as they lumbered through the forest, the horrible sound of cracking timber still loud and relentless behind them as the machines followed.

They were slowing. While in excellent physical shape, the two mile run to the Jumper was daunting. They were forced to leap over fallen trees, force their way through scraggly low-growing bushes, their arms occasionally darting up to protect their faces as they shouldered tree branches out of the way. The sleeves of Teyla's jacket were torn with dozens of small rips and Ronon's arms bleed from countless cuts. Her chest felt on fire and her wheezing breath was loud in her ears. She tried to take huge gasps of air but it never seemed enough. She was approaching her limit; her legs were like lead, her calves on fire and a stitch in her side so painful it brought tears to her eyes. She said nothing, however, concentrating all her strength on their wild run and leaving no thought left to contemplate whether or not they'd make it.

"Over this ridge," Ronon said and out of the corner of her eye Teyla saw him reach down to his belt and remove his second grenade. Ever since he'd seen Sheppard use one, he always carried two on his belt, replying that they reminded him of something he had in the military back on his planet and seemed quite content to have them readily available for his use. He always expressed a grim delight in using them.

As they crested the top of the small hill Teyla saw two toppled trees and recognized them as the ones Sheppard had knocked over as they landed in the thick forest. The ground dipped down and she reached into a vest pocket and produced the small hand-held device they used to remotely remove the Jumper's cloak and open the rear door. She squeezed it in her hand, thanking the Ancestors that it did not require the Ancient gene – it gave a content little shake in response and the Jumper materialized at the bottom of the tiny valley.

Ronon chucked the grenade over his shoulder and they simultaneously put on a burst of speed – Teyla's heart beat wildly in her chest – there was a tremendous explosion and the sound of demolished timber hesitantly paused, long enough for them to both run and slide through the leaves, down the slope to the bottom of the valley, another squeeze of the remote opening the door.

Almost dizzy with relief, she and Ronon hurtled themselves inside, Teyla slapping the panel as she stumbled through the rear hatch. The door closed behind them with the efficient sound of an air-tight seal. Teyla doubled over, hands on her knees, sucking in air with great whoops, Ronon doing the same beside her.

Heart still pounding, Teyla jumped at the sound of something ramming the rear hatch of the Jumper. The ship shook ever so slightly and the ramming sound was joined by another, and another, until the ship began to rock from side to side. Grasping at the cargo webbing on the walls, she exchanged an alarmed look with Ronon.

"They're persistent." Ronon remarked.

"I do not think they can get inside." she noted, and Ronon nodded in agreement. He lowered himself onto one of the benches lining the wall in the rear compartment and she gratefully did the same. Her mouth felt like cotton and her legs were shaking. She reached under the bench and pulled out one of the spare packs, opening it and withdrawing one of the extra canteens. As Ronon did the same she brought the canteen to her mouth; the water was luke warm but felt like heaven sliding down her parched throat. When she was satiated, Ronon had already drained one canteen and was riffling through the pack and pulling out P90 clips. She rummaged as well and removed as many clips as she could find, flicking off the light on her P90 and replenishing the magazine.

"We should tell Sheppard we made it." Ronon said, pushing the pack back underneath the bench and leaning back against the bulkhead. He was jostled by the continuous rocking of the Jumper but it didn't seem to bother him.

Teyla keyed her radio. "Colonel Sheppard, can you hear me?"

"_Teyla? Are you and Ronon alright?"_

"Yes, Ronon and I are inside the Jumper. Did Rodney succeed in freeing you?"

"_Yeah, he did. We're making our way towards you."_

With a frown, Teyla replied, "Colonel, the machines are attempting to force their way inside the Jumper."

There was a long pause following her statement, then it was Rodney who eventually asked, "_Are they succeeding?"_

"No. It does not appear that they can get inside."

"_Well thank god. I have no idea if whatever is beneath those mounds of dirt can damage the hull of the Jumper."_

"They are simply ramming the hull of the ship. I do not think they are trying to..." Teyla fumbled for the appropriate word, "... eat their way inside."

"_Thank god for small miracles, huh?"_ Sheppard said, sounding relieved. "_Can you guys hold out okay? We wont be able to get inside the Jumper if they have it surrounded, protected by the Ancient gene or not."_

Teyla exchanged a look with Ronon, who raised one eyebrow as if to say 'I'm good'. "We should be fine."

"_Good. Hold tight until Rodney figures something out."_

The radio felt silent and Teyla sighed and leaned forward, resting her arms on her thighs. Ronon shifted on the bench, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. "I guess now we just wait." he rumbled.

Teyla could only frown in agreement.

* * *

Their progress was aggravatingly slow. Rodney kept up a steady litany of whining as they made their careful way through the forest, their one good flashlight illuminating the ground directly in front of them. 

"This is spooky as hell, seriously. Why is there no noise? Shouldn't there be like, crickets chirping and owls hooting and the wind rustling in the trees or something?"

Sheppard, though growing steadily annoyed with Rodney's constant babble, was forced to agree. There wasn't a sound save for their feet crunching the twigs and leaves of the forest bed and the occasional sound of timber creaking as they pushed a tree branch out of the way. Even he had to admit it was raising the hairs on the back of his neck, so to speak, and his whole body was tense. His ankle throbbed abominably, screaming in protest every time Sheppard put even a little amount of weight on it and he wasn't pleased with having to resort to using Rodney as a crutch.

"Look," Sheppard suddenly pointed, "Is that the thing you guys blew up with the grenade?"

Sure enough, making their way through shredded bushes and splintered tree parts, in the center of a small crater was the killer dirt-pile robot. It was the first time Sheppard had gotten to see it and had to admit, it didn't look even vaguely intimidating. Twisted bits of metal poked out from beneath dark dirt and Rodney removed his hand from Sheppard waist, waiting until the Colonel had his balance before kneeling next to the dismembered remains.

Shoving piles of dirt away, Rodney methodically began to uncover bits of the machine and even Sheppard recognized the shards of crystals that littered the remains. Rodney picked up a few of them; there was a tiny sliver of a blue one, one yellow one that was almost whole. Rodney tossed them back onto the ground with an interested hum. Holding his LSD up, he squinted at the screen. Muttering to himself and jabbing a finger at the screen, Sheppard waited patiently, tracing the flashlight around the crater, its beam catching on bits and pieces of the robot.

"That's interesting." Rodney remarked softly, finger hovering over the pad and Rodney's eyes danced to the crater and then back to the screen. "Turn your flashlight off, Colonel."

Sheppard asked, "Why?" but obediently twisted the end and they were plunged into darkness, only the soft glow of the LSD visible. That vanished as well as Rodney mentally turned it off.

He could barely make out Rodney's movements as the scientist began digging, his fingers making a dull thunking noise as they banged against the side of the machine. Rodney huffed and continued to shift dirt around, tracing the edges of the machine, feeling out it's bulk and pushing the mounds of forest bed away. Eventually, as Rodney began to uncover more and more of the machine, he paused, leaning back.

Sheppard leaned over to see what Rodney found so interesting – he could barely make out the scientist's hunched form, and stared at the ground in the middle of the crater – and noticed that it was glowing. He immediately brought his P90 to bear on reflex, demanding, "It's still alive?"

The LSD turned back on, casting a blue glow on the crater. "Barely. It can't function, but there's enough power left in its system to broadcast."

"Broadcast?" Sheppard demanded, not liking the sound of that one bit, "Broadcasting what?"

Another interested hum, symbols writing themselves across the LSD's screen, "A distress signal, apparently. Probably what woke up the rest of the forest." Rodney paused, his gaze intent, then remarked, "One second..." fingers poking at the screen rapid fire.

"What?" Sheppard demanded, P90 still trained on the remains of the machine.

"It looks like it's speaking to a network. It's hard to make out, there's a massive amount of communication going on, but all these machines are talking to one another."

"Can you tell them to shut off?"

Rodney glanced at the parts scattered around the crater. "No. I can read what they're saying, but I have no way of broadcasting the signal through the whole network. If I had one of these machines that _wasn't_ destroyed, maybe, but otherwise I have no way of creating a signal strong enough to shut them all down at once. Individually I might be able to, but the signal to reactivate and neutralize the threat that's being sent through the network would just turn them right back on."

"McKay, I don't think I can catch one of these."

Rodney grimaced, admitting, "Yeah, that's probably not going to happen."

"Is there a central control?" Sheppard asked.

Rodney blinked. "A what?"

"A central control, a command station. The network administrator, the guy in charge who can shut the whole thing down. Do you think there's something like that on the planet?"

"Oh, uh..." Rodney fiddled with the LSD, "Probably. That makes sense."

"Can you find it?" he demanded.

Rodney waved a hand at him, "Give me a minute, I'm not a miracle worker."

Sheppard waited impatiently and Rodney prodded the screen, occasionally making an annoyed noise, one time hissing through his teeth, "Shut _up_for a minute-" at the LSD, before finally crowing in triumph, "Ah! Found it."

Always came through in a pickle, his McKay. "Great. Which way?"

Rodney pointed a finger back in the direction they came. "That way. A mile and a half, maybe, the readings get a little vague after that."

Sheppard grimaced. Getting farther away from the Jumper was not something Sheppard was keen on doing. A mile and a half through a dangerous forest full of booby traps and killer robots in the pitch black was not something he wanted to do and his ankle told him in no uncertain terms, with a sharp jab of pain as he shifted his weight, that it was_not happy_ about the situation.

Rodney rose from his kneeling position, brushing dirt and twigs from his pants and wiping his hands down his thighs. "We should destroy what's left of this thing. It would probably be a good idea to kill the distress signal."

"With pleasure," Sheppard replied, finally glad to do _something_, and Rodney backpedaled away from the robot and took the flashlight from Sheppard.

Sheppard raised the P90 and let loose a spray of bullets, watching with satisfaction as they pounded through the dirt, slamming into the metallic husk and sending bits of crystals and metal shards flying up into the air. He kept up the spray until he was satisfied in the utter destruction the onslaught wrought. When he lowered the weapon, the machine was no more than churned earth and jagged chunks of machine. He flipped off his P90 light, just to be sure, and Rodney copied him and did the same. In the dark there was no hint of a glow. Satisfied, he clicked his light back on. Rodney surveyed the carnage and didn't bother to conceal his appreciation of its destruction.

"Shall we?" Sheppard asked, hobbling out of the small crater and putting his arm back around Rodney's shoulder, Rodney's hand snaking around his waist.

Rodney replied with an eager, "Hell yes," adding, "I want off this god-forsaken planet."

Sheppard could only agree.

They set off into the forest.

* * *

-to be continued 


End file.
